The present invention relates generally to a vehicle safety equipment worn by an operator. More specifically, the present invention relates to a radio-controlled brake light having increased radio noise immunity.
Generally, vehicles such as motorcycles, bicycles, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles (ATV), and other modes of transportation include brake lights which are mounted near a rear fender. This placement of the brake light is too close to the ground to be readily seen by operators of other vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,393 issued to Reilly on Jul. 26, 1990 discloses a brake light mounted to a motorcycle helmet to more effectively provide warning of the braking operation. The apparatus in Reilly includes a transmitter coupled to a brake peddle on the motorcycle and a receiver circuit coupled to the brake light mounted to the motorcycle helmet. In operation, the transmitter produces an encoded signal when the brake peddle is depressed. The receiver circuit receives the encoded signal that includes a binary decoder which demodulates and decodes the signal. If the decoded signal matches a predetermined code within the receiver circuit, the receiver circuit turns on the brake light mounted to the helmet.
Vehicles such as motorcycles, bicycles and snowmobiles are often operated in groups of two or more. The encoded signal of one particular vehicle can interfere with the reception of an encoded signal by another vehicle, thereby causing erroneous operation of the brake light. More specifically, portions of the encoded signals from other transmitters may prevent a particular receiver from appropriately turning ON the remote-controlled brake light; this is a particular problem when several operators in a group initiate a brake operation almost simultaneously. Further, the receiver circuit may be triggered by spurious radio signals. The spurious radio signals may be the product of cellular phones, garage door openers, satellite transmissions, radar guns, and other radio frequency sources. Heretofore, prior art radio controlled brake lights have been susceptible to radio noise. Such prior art devices are disadvantageous because the brake light is not illuminated properly. Thus, there is a need for a radio controlled safety light which has superior noise immunity.